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Book Home  Books Information Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
is the third book in the Harry Potter series of children's books
by J. K. Rowling. The book was published on July 8, 1999. A film
based on the book was released on May 31st, 2004, in the United
Kingdom (released early due to popular demand) and June 4th in
the United States and many other countries.
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Harry's life at the Dursleys takes a horrible turn when
his Aunt Marge comes to stay. Harry is well aware of the Hogwarts
prohibition on students doing magic outside of school, but her cruel
insults toward his parents so enrage him that he unintentionally and
unconsciously "blows her up" (makes her expand in size)
and she floats away on her own hot air.
Harry runs away from the Dursleys and is picked up by
the Knight Bus; en route to London he learns that a criminal named
Sirius Black has escaped from Azkaban. Harry is found but—to
his bewilderment—not punished by the Ministry of Magic for blowing
up his aunt.
Harry soon learns why: Sirius Black is believed to be
after him, and the Ministry of Magic seems more concerned about his
safety. The school is now protected by the Dementors of Azkaban to
prevent Black from getting onto the grounds. The mystery deepens as
Harry discovers that Black has mysterious ties with his own parents
and their death at the hands of Lord Voldemort.
The story takes an unexpected turn when Harry finds
that Sirius Black was innocent and wrongly sent to Azkaban. The real
criminal is Peter Pettigrew, who is believed dead at the hands of
Sirius Black. It was Pettigrew who betrayed Harry's parents to Lord
Voldemort, and later killed a number of Muggles in an incident for
which he framed Sirius Black and faked his own death. Pettigrew turned
out to be an animagus, a wizard who can take the form of a particular
animal at will, and had really spent the last twelve years disguised
as Ron's rat, Scabbers.
Pettigrew gets away and the Ministry refuses to believe
Harry, Ron and Hermione's tale. Dumbledore does believe the story
however, and they sneak Sirius to freedom on the back of a hippogriff.
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